Read Online The People in the Mirror by Thea Thomas - Free Book Online Page A

their way through the door.
      “Your mother is a wonderful pianist.”
      “Scales?”
      “Anything. She’s got the touch of an artist. I’ll tell you, I’d rather listen to your mother play scales for an hour than have any of the Rionews attempt to play for five minutes. There’s no escaping hearing your piano in our apartment, but with your mother playing, I never want to escape it.”
      “I can’t imagine any way more directly to my Mom’s heart than for her to hear that kind of praise. Come on in, I’ll sit you down on the sofa and you can listen to Mom play without the walls between. I’ll even bring you some milk and cookies, not-cookie-cutter boy.”
      Well, of course Mom was crazy flattered when Mitch told her how much he enjoyed her playing.
      “What would you like to hear?” she asked, fingers poised over the keyboard.
      “I love all the classic composers,” Mitch said, getting himself ever deeper into Mom’s heart. Then he made the last parry by saying,   “But Beethoven is my favorite.”
      Mom’s too.
      I was happy to wait on Mitch and share his enjoyment of the piano concert. After half-an-hour, Mom quit and stretched, smiling at the both of us. She pointed at the far wall. “Didn’t you notice, Nikki?”
      “Oh! Look, some of the antiques are back. And that painting! That’s wonderful. I guess the police are really on top of things.”
      I saw Mitch nervously look at his watch out of the corner of my eye. He leapt up. “Goodness, I didn’t realize it was so late, I’ve got to get home. Thank you for letting me listen to you play, Mrs. Francis, I enjoyed it more than I can express.”  And he bolted from the apartment.
      Mom and I exchanged a that-was-sort-of-strange look. I felt disappointment creeping over me that I didn’t get to talk with him more. I mean, we just listened to Mom play. Why didn’t he say, “I’ll see you tomorrow after school,” or “do you want to do something this weekend?” Or something. Or anything. But then, if his peer group socialization was curtailed as much as he’d said, how would he know what the girl next door might hope for him to do or say? I suddenly realized that he seemed more at ease talking with Mom than with me.
      “Charming young man, really,” Mom mused. “Do you know any more about him than you did before?”
      “His family is Romanian, so you were right about the accent. His father died five years ago, and now he and his mother live with his uncle. Oh, and his uncle keeps him out of public school because he doesn’t want Mitch to be a “cookie-cutter boy” like everyone who goes to public school. Mitch wants to be a lawyer, but his uncle doesn’t want him to become that, either. He said his uncle never went to school at all.”
      “Hmmm,” Mom said, cautiously. “The uncle sounds sort of like a tyrant.”
      “Yeah. That’s what I was thinking.”
      “By-the-by, Nikki, don’t forget your appointment with Dr. Carcionne tomorrow.”
      “What a segue! How could I ‘forget’ something I didn’t even know about? I’m doing great, Mom, why should I see her?”
      “It can’t hurt to go a few times. There must be things you could use a sounding board to help you sort out.”
      “I’ve got you and Dad, Mom. My over-protective parents.”
      “I’m glad you feel that you can talk with us,” she answered, ignoring the “overprotective” part. “And I have to admit I’m very happy to see you making some positive adjustments to your new environment. But this whole business of being robbed, and the trauma you went through when you thought your ring was missing – I just don’t want you to be scarred.”
      “I’m not scarred, Mom. I’ve got my ring, and I’m fine.”
      “That’s good. I hope you share all of that with Dr. Carcionne. Dad is going to pick you up after school to take you to your appointment.”
      “He’s leaving work early?”
      “I had planned